In this chapter what stood out the most to me was deculturalization: the process that aims to destroy a people’s culture and replace it with a new culture. Deculturalization had a negative impact on the cultures of Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican American, Puerto Ricans and immigrants from Ireland, Southern and Eastern Europe, and Asia. During the process of Deculturalization the Anglo- American culture, British descendants believed that their culture was superior of all the other cultures and seek ways to conform the other culture to practice their way of living. A part of what help this deculturalization of other ethnic group was the government influence and control in the society. We see that both republicans and democratic played a part in deculturalization process by forbidding people of other cultures to speaking in their native tongue as describe in the book.
Deculturalization was an attempt to destroy all other culture language and religion. I like that the author pointed out that Deculturalization had it part in eradicating other cultures but other cultures have played a part in eradicating their own believes and practice because these conquered people want to have some form of ties to their conquerors so they tried to assimilate themselves with their conquerors by in learning their languages and practicing their beliefs.
The next thing that stood out to me in this chapter was the fight for citizenship by both Native Indians and African American born in America. I think that it was so rude of the British people that came to America and impose their beliefs and practices and language on a land where there were already native living and building a society of their own (especially the Indians). They came, made up a constitution to govern the land but wanted to exclude the rights of the people that were already living in American. Also denying African Americans the right to citizenship after they have fought for their freedom in a place that they help built and make it what it is today. Africans were brought to this country in slavery and had to conform to the life of what was present to them and then had to give up their culture and believes and after all that suffering they were still being look upon as pets and not human being.
But today we have to be grateful as a people because America has come far from how it used to be to what it is today. I guess there is still a dominant culture in today’s society when it comes to educating the people. But under the now revised 14th amendment people are given the right to life, liberty, justice and equal protection clause. Now everyone has the right to an education regardless of ethnic background. A question one could ask is: Is the process Deculturalization to be blame for how the educational system is set up in the 21st century?
